Writings, Ramblings, and Reflections

An open letter to Amy Glass

This letter is in response to Amy Glass’s article about Stay-at-home Moms.

Dear Ms. Glass,

I read your article and I must admit that I was dismayed to see such a blatant hatred for the women I most highly esteem. I was raised my a stay-at- home mom and had interaction with many other young people who had stay-at-home moms. I also had interaction with young people who had moms with careers.

Stay-at-home moms are the most courageous, hardworking, underrated women I know. Here are 3 reasons why:

Having kids and getting married are considered life milestones. We have baby showers and wedding parties as if it’s a huge accomplishment and cause for celebration to be able to get knocked up or find someone to walk down the aisle with. These aren’t accomplishments, they are actually super easy tasks, literally anyone can do them.

In the Bible, in the book of Genesis God says many times to “be fruitful and multiply”. This is still a command for today. He also set up the sacred institution of marriage. Marriage is not something to take lightly and should be celebrated. When two people are truly in love with each other, have a God-honoring relationship, and desire to trust and honor God in a marriage, this is worthy of great rejoicing and celebration.

And when this couple is blessed with a child, this is also cause for celebration. Their love has borne fruit and they have the opportunity to raise and nurture their child. Who knows? This child could even become a scientist and find a cure for cancer. And you want to suppress this from happening?

If women can do anything, why are we still content with applauding them for doing nothing?

See my list above referencing stay-at-home moms. They are not doing nothing. Have you ever heard the quote, “The hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world”? That’s what a stay-at-home mom does. She raises and nurtures her children to go out into the world and do what God ordained for them to do. The stay-at-home mom who lives next to you could be raising a future president of the United States. Or maybe that child will find a way to end the fighting in the Middle East. Or perhaps that young person will become a college president, a mayor, defeat poverty in his or her city. That is the power of a stay-at-home mom. She can guide and mold her child to follow his or her dreams to become whatever they want to become.

I hear women talk about how “hard” it is to raise kids and manage a household all the time. I never hear men talk about this. It’s because women secretly like to talk about how hard managing a household is so they don’t have to explain their lack of real accomplishments. Men don’t care to “manage a household.” They aren’t conditioned to think stupid things like that are “important.”

Men don’t care because it is in their nature to provide for their families monetarily rather than through managing a household. Ms. Glass, I challenge you to follow a stay-at-home mom around for a day. In particular, shadow a mom who also home schools her kids. You will be shock at how exhausted you get just by watching her.

Women will be equal with men when we stop demanding that it be considered equally important to do housework and real work. They are not equal. Doing laundry will never be as important as being a doctor or an engineer or building a business. This word play is holding us back.

I found your article on a friend’s Facebook page and he had a very good point. He said, “Yes, yes, right. In other news, imagine a world where no one ever did laundry.” A little sick, sad humor, but it still makes a good point. Perhaps doing laundry, keeping the house clean, and taking care of the kids doesn’t seem as important to you as being a doctor, or an engineer, or building a business. I tend to disagree.

I have seen what happens to a family, the kids, and the people they come in contact with when both parents are frazzled from work, managing the house, and running their kids here, there, and everywhere. It isn’t pretty and ends up costing a lot more than it needs to.

Really? Why is it that taking care of my husband (hypothetical), and children (also hypothetical) is such a shame?

Oh, wait, I know why. Because I should be putting me first, right? Me and my wants, my desires, my “needs”. That’s why. I should be pursuing me first.

I would consider it a great honor and privilege to be counted worthy by God to marry a young man, have kids and stay at home to raise those children. As all human beings, I have dreams and talents. I could have possibly gone into a piano performance career, but being a stay-at-home mom appeals to me more. I can serve my God and church by being a pianist instead.

I could work full-time at my job and make three times as much money as I am and live on my own and be a “normal” twenty-something. Instead I am living at home with my family, I work part-time, helping my family on our hobby farm, and write part-time.

I could work hard at finding an agent and a publisher and try to make the best of my talent at writing. I would much rather stay at home learning to be a stay-at-home mom, preparing to be a helpmeet for my husband, and independently publishing my books to ensure they still have the Biblical content I want in them.

I might not make as much money doing any of the things that I do, but I frankly do not care. What I care about is that I am honoring God in all that I do. That is of utmost importance. If God counts me as worthy of having a husband, that is how I will serve Him. If not, I will serve Him in the ways I am now.

I pray you read this letter, Ms. Glass, and that God will touch your heart.

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3 thoughts on “An open letter to Amy Glass”

Faith, do you mind if I link to this post in a blog post of my own? I want to expand on the “what if no one did laundry” comment, talking about supposedly “unimportant” jobs without which the world would fall apart (e.g., plumbers, electricians, janitors).